The present invention relates to yarn tensioning devices in general, and more particularly, is directed to a ball tension device suitable for use with horizontal yarn.
In the weaving and knitting industries, it is customary to tension the yarns by exerting a braking action on the yarns or threads to control tension on the yarn or thread as it is processed by the machine. Most prior art yarn tensioning devices were designed to treat vertical yarns inasmuch as the great majority of textile machinery is designed for operation with the yarn traveling in a vertical or substantially vertical path. U.S. Pat. No. 3,753,535 is exemplary of one prior art ball type tensioning device suitable for use with vertical yarns. Devices of the type described function well with yarns in vertical orientation but are completely unsuitable for use with machines wherein the yarns and threads are run in a horizontal path.
Other prior workers in the art have attempted to design yarn tensioning devices or yarn brakes for horizontal yarns as shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,040,185, 1,372,557, 1,402,894, 1,211,862, 1,490,512, 1,167,636 and 3,383,072. All of these prior art tension braking devices however have certain disadvantages in that most are relatively complicated in construction. Others occupy considerable space. Some have not produced completely satisfactory results due in large part to the inertia of moving parts. Others have provided deficient in that they developed high friction which resulted in fiber and filament damage. In many instances, the prior art designs did not include suitable construction to accommodate knots and other irregularities in the yarns or threads.